Cheng Lan frowned, her tone disdainful, seemingly looking down on this kind of well-bred young lady. She scoffed and said, "Then let's take her as a concubine and give her a title?"
"nonsense!"
Wei Chi rebuked.
"She was already betrothed to the Prince of Qin by the late Emperor and is now the Princess Consort of Qin. How could I possibly take her as a concubine? Even if I were willing, the entire court would not agree!"
Cheng Lan pouted: "It doesn't necessarily have to be the right path. Just coax her a little and make her happy. She probably knows she can't marry you openly and honestly, so she won't force it."
After he finished speaking, the hall fell silent. After a long while, Wei Chi nodded and said, "I understand."
...
Princess Chenglan's carriage left the palace and slowly drove into the princess's residence.
After returning to her room, she did not allow the male concubines to come in and serve her. Instead, she lay down on Granny Kong's lap with a headache and asked her to rub her head.
Granny Kong smiled at her and said, "Judging from the Princess's expression, it seems that the matter concerning the Princess Qin has been settled?"
If things hadn't gone well, she should be furious and jumping up and down in the house by now, not lying on me like this.
Cheng Lan grunted, "The nearest auspicious day is ten days from now. Whether Princess Qin can live or die depends on whether Prince Qin can arrive within these ten days."
She couldn't delay him any longer; Wei Chi wouldn't wait that long.
Granny Kong nodded: "The Princess has done her best. Let's leave the rest to fate."
As she breathed a sigh of relief, Chen Tian, carrying the news that had suddenly come from the imperial court two days prior, traveled all the way to Shuozhou. When he passed through an unnamed town, he suddenly stopped and did not go any further.
After seeing the banner and letter left by Yao Youqing, Wei Hong secretly left Shuozhou and traveled here stealthily. It was only five or six days' journey from the capital.
Chen Tian recounted everything he knew and heard, and those around Wei Hong fell silent after listening.
Although we had already guessed that the princess had come to die, hearing her words with our own ears still sent a chill down our spines.
Having just stopped to rest, Wei Hong set off again, changing to a faster horse and continuing his journey towards the capital.
Cheng Lan, who originally thought she could wait at least ten days, heard that Wei Chi was planning to have sex with Yao Youqing before half the time had even passed.
She had previously sent away the maid who was guarding Yao Youqing, telling her that she might be able to stall for time until the King of Qin came to rescue her, but she needed to feign compliance with Wei Chi first.
However, Yao Youqing was determined to die and had no intention of asking anyone to rescue her. Moreover, she knew that Wei Chi dared not touch her father because she had testified against him in court, and he was afraid of giving others something to talk about, so he dared not act rashly.
But if she runs away, what will become of her father? What will she do if Wei Chi threatens her with her father again in the future?
She didn't tell Cheng Lan these words, but Cheng Lan was quick-witted and guessed them after a little thought. She told her that she had people guarding Yao Yuzhi, and that she could help rescue Yao Yuzhi as well.
Yao Yuzhi had escaped Wei Chi's control, and she had already proven what kind of person Wei Chi was in the court. He had paved the way for Wei Hong and rescued her father so they could reunite and enjoy family life. Living was naturally better than dying.
Although Yao Youqing was naive and innocent, she was very clear-headed at the crucial moment and did not believe Cheng Lan's words at all. She looked up and stared at her coldly.
"If I remember correctly, Princess Chenglan and His Majesty have always been close. The reason she appointed me as her study companion was to help His Majesty summon me into the palace."
"Not only that, you also tricked me into going on a trip to the outskirts of the capital, and then led His Majesty to meet me."
"Now that you're so kind to help me, do you really want to get me out of here, or are you colluding with His Majesty to use me to lure the Prince here?"
Cheng Lan was taken aback, then chuckled and reached out to tap her forehead.
"I used to think you were a bit clumsy, but I didn't expect you to be so smart after all?"
Yao Youqing leaned back slightly from being poked, frowned, sat up straight, and remained silent.
Cheng Lan laughed and said, "I have always been a sycophant, as everyone in the court knows. The reason I helped His Majesty in the first place was because His Majesty was the Crown Prince, and my fourteenth uncle had no intention of seizing power. So naturally I stood on the side of the Crown Prince, so that I could protect my wealth and honor."
“But now His Majesty has fallen out with his fourteenth uncle, and you have helped his fourteenth uncle accuse His Majesty of treason in court. His Majesty has lost the support of the people, so how can he possibly defeat his fourteenth uncle? Of course I have to help my fourteenth uncle save you! Otherwise, if he ascends the throne in the future, my life as the eldest princess will not be easy!”
Yao Youqing believed that she had met all sorts of people since marrying Wei Hong. There were intelligent and gentle people like Cui Hao, upright and loyal people like Guo Sheng, peaceful and kind people like Douzi, and even shameless people like Ji Yunwan.
Even Ji Yunwan only revealed her true colors after she was exposed. At first, she also put on a gentle and dignified appearance as a lady from a prominent family.
Princess Chenglan had never seen anyone so openly admit to currying favor with the powerful, and she spoke of it with such confidence and without any sense of shame. She was at a loss for how to respond.
Cheng Lan smiled, propped her elbow on the table, and rested her chin on her hand.
"A person should know how to assess the situation and plan ahead. It is precisely because I helped His Majesty deceive you in the past that I should help you even more now. That way, even if Uncle Fourteen finds out about what happened before, my merits and demerits will be balanced, and at least he won't make things difficult for me."
"As for your concern that I might conspire with His Majesty to use you to lure him here, that's really an overreaction."
"You were willing to risk your life to say those words in the imperial court, so you must know something about Uncle Fourteen, both his character and his abilities."
“If he really wanted to save you, he would already be on his way. Even if I didn’t tell you these things, he would still come.”
"If he doesn't intend to save you, he won't come even if you wait ten days or half a month. Then it will be the same whether you beg for death or not. What difference will it make from the result now?"
"Besides, with Uncle Fourteen's abilities, since he dared to come to the capital to rescue people, he is not afraid of not returning. The capital is where he grew up, and it cannot hold him back."
After she finished speaking, she saw that Yao Youqing was still silent. She knew that Yao Youqing was still wary, but she must have listened to what she had just said to some extent. So she went on to tell her how to stall for time and asked her to wait another ten days.
She doesn't need to do anything special for the next ten days; she just needs to take good care of herself and avoid provoking Wei Chi.
Then Cheng Lan left the side hall and turned to Wei Chi to tell him about Yao Youqing's words of love turning into hatred, making Wei Chi mistakenly believe that there was still room for maneuver. He told her to coax Yao Youqing for a few days and then choose the nearest auspicious day to hold a "wedding" for her.
Wei Chi was desperate and would agree to anything, even if he was impatient.
If the King of Qin sends someone within ten days, he will definitely rescue Yao Youqing and Yao Yuzhi together, without her having to lift a finger.
Cheng Lan knew her own limitations; her claim of helping Yao Youqing save her father was a complete lie.
If it were outside the palace, she might be able to think of a way, but inside the palace, she was truly helpless.
However, as long as the King of Qin cared about his queen, he would not allow her to be threatened again and again.
Even though he had a long-standing grudge against Yao Yuzhi, he would still rescue her for this reason.
Yao Youqing was simply too caught up in the situation to notice this, as she was too preoccupied with the past between her father and husband.
Cheng Lan thought she had a perfect plan and that everything would be peaceful within ten days. However, she did not expect that Wei Chi was so eager to get Yao Youqing to recant her testimony. Just four days later, he proposed to "get married" to her and lied to her that tomorrow would be a good day.
"The Princess Consort of Qin was imprisoned in the palace. His Majesty was certain that she did not know which day was auspicious, so he made up this story to deceive her."
"Fortunately, Princess Qin is clever and did not expose his lie on the spot, otherwise His Majesty would have definitely guessed that you lied in the middle."
"But if that's the case... Princess Qin probably won't live past tomorrow."
"Granny Kong frowned and said."
The Princess Consort's original idea was merely a delaying tactic, allowing His Majesty to wait ten days without harming Princess Qin during that time.
But if he really wanted to have sex with Princess Qin, she would never agree, even if it meant death. Either His Majesty would kill her in a fit of rage, or she would commit suicide because she couldn't bear the humiliation.
Cheng Lan took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and then let them loosen weakly after a long while.
“I have no other choice. The King of Qin has not come yet. Perhaps what the old woman said is true... that he has tacitly agreed.”
He tacitly approved of the death of the Qin princess.
Granny Kong sighed, about to say a few words of comfort, when she suddenly raised her hand and smashed the teacup on the ground, shattering it into pieces, and angrily said, "Men are all the same!"
Afterwards, he stormed back to his inner room and slammed the door shut. It was unclear whether he was angry at the King of Qin or at someone else.
...
The palace servants rearranged Yao Youqing's palace. From the outside, it looked exactly the same, but inside, red candles were lit, dragon and phoenix bedding was replaced, and red silk was hung, making it look like a wedding room.
Yao Youqing watched them arrange everything indifferently, without moving, until evening approached and the palace maid urged her to change into her wedding dress. Only then did she slowly get up, but instead of changing, she walked to the window and looked outside.
The sky above this palace is too small and not beautiful at all. The rivers, mountains, and bustling streets of Shangchuan are much more attractive.
It's a pity we'll never see it again.
"Miss Yao, please change your clothes."
The palace maid urged them again.
Yao Youqing nodded and followed her to the clothes rack, but while she went to get her wedding dress, she raised her hand and wiped her neck.
During the day, she pretended to accidentally break a cup, and when the palace maid wasn't looking, she secretly left a shard of porcelain, which she kept hidden in her sleeve.
With a quick slit across her neck, she could go see her mother and brother.
However, Wei Chi had more than one maidservant by her side. Although she didn't see the maidservant who went to get the wedding dress, the other maidservant dared not let her guard down and kept an eye on her at all times. When she suddenly raised her hand, fearing that something was wrong, she immediately pounced on her and pressed her hand down firmly.
Seeing that the porcelain shards had already grazed her neck, Yao Youqing, who was not strong enough, could not break free from the palace maid and only managed to scratch a small patch of skin on her neck.
With red eyes, she struggled, unable to lift her hands, so she rubbed her neck against the porcelain shard. But the other palace maids reacted at this moment, rushed forward, forcibly pried her hands open, and snatched the porcelain shard away.
The palace maids were both angry and annoyed, but they dared not do anything to her. They could only try to persuade her to change into the bright red wedding dress.
But Yao Youqing wouldn't listen to reason and struggled desperately, wanting to die. The palace maids couldn't keep holding her down, and they were afraid that they might accidentally hurt her with too much force, so they had to tie her up first and then send someone to tell Wei Chi what was going on.
Wei Chi had originally planned to come over, but was called away by someone due to an urgent matter. He and a few confidants were locked in the council hall and no one was allowed to disturb them.
The palace maids couldn't find the person and didn't know what to do. Finally, the leader said, "Let's change Miss Yao into her wedding dress first. After all, it's the task His Majesty assigned us, so let's do it well."
They said they would put Miss Yao in a wedding dress, so they did. As for whether Miss Yao was willing or not, His Majesty would know when he arrived and saw it for himself. No wonder they tied her up and forced her.
The other palace maids nodded, and together they helped Yao Youqing change into her wedding dress.
Yao Youqing struggled but could not break free. By the time her clothes were changed, she was nearly exhausted. She was then tied up again with ropes, and to prevent her from biting her tongue and committing suicide, her mouth was even gagged.
This wedding dress was in the style of commoners, different from the auspicious clothes in the palace. After the palace maids changed her, they put the veil on her head and then went back to their duties in the room.
Yao Youqing's hands were tied behind her back, and all she could see was a large expanse of red. Tears streamed down her face, and her body trembled uncontrollably.
She wasn't afraid of death, but she didn't want to be humiliated before she died.
The thought of what Wei Chi might do to her made her feel so disgusted that she wanted to vomit.
But she was weak and alone, and in front of these palace maids, she couldn't even beg for death...
Earlier, Wei Hong and his group finally arrived at a secluded mountain valley thirty miles outside the capital.
In this mountain hollow, there was an abandoned grave, the weeds on the grave mound growing more than half a person tall. Now the abandoned grave has been dug up, revealing its true form. There was no coffin, only a dark and damp passage.
The man following Wei Hong said, "Your Highness, are we really going to use this secret passage? It took us five years to dig through after the Consort passed away. It's the only one. If we use it now... we won't be able to use it again if there's any emergency in the future."
"Yes, Your Highness, news has come from the palace that the Princess is safe for the time being. We can wait a couple more days and think of another way."
When the Imperial Concubine died just a step away from Huayang Gate, Wei Hong calmed down and decided to dig a secret passage for any eventuality.
That way, no matter what conflict he has with the woman in the palace in the future, he can advance or retreat as needed, and he won't be trapped and die in the palace like his mother.
This secret passage can only be used once. Once discovered, it will be sealed immediately, and there is absolutely no possibility of using it a second time.
His subordinates understood his eagerness to rescue the princess, but they were reluctant to use such a secret passage that could determine the outcome of the battle, especially since they had just received news from the palace yesterday that the princess would be safe for the next five or six days.
Five or six days is enough time for them to come up with another way to save her.